Michael C. Bailey's Blog, page 34
April 12, 2022
Weekly Update – April 12, 2022
In the interest of avoiding yet another “nothing happened” post, I’m going to answer a few questions that have come up regarding the next Action Figures book, which is still very much in the first draft. Here we go…
What’s it called?
I’m leaning toward Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Zero Day, but that’s not 100 percent settled.
Is this going to be a big book?
Oh, yes. It’s currently clocking in at 110K words, which surpasses all other Action Figures books by 20K pages or so, and I still have quite a ways to go. The revision process will knock the word count down a bit, but it will still be a chonky book.
Why such a large book? Why not split it into two books?
Basically because it feels like a disservice to my readers. It means giving them a cliffhanger, making them wait several months before releasing the next book, and then asking them to buy a second book. Doing the story as a single novel means they get the whole story at once, and I can charge less for one big book than for two smaller books.
Is this the last book in the series?
Short answer: yes.
Longer answer: this will be the last book in the core series. I had a specific story to tell with Lightstorm and the Hero Squad and that story is coming to an end. Dragging it out for the sake of fan service or to keep the sales going — Action Figures is by far my best-selling series — isn’t creatively honest for me. I love the characters, but eventually the stories would become repetitive, hokey, ridiculous, and/or just plain boring to write for me and boring to read for you. I want the characters and the series to go out on a high note.
However!
That doesn’t mean we’ll never see those characters again. I have a spinoff/sequel story in mind featuring new characters in the same universe. In fact, the working plan is for the new novel to pick up immediately after the events of Zero Day and explore the fallout of that book through the eyes of two new protagonists. Whether it becomes a new series or is simply a stand-alone story is TBD.
There’s a second potential spinoff/sequel tale in my head featuring an established character, but again, I have to work out some particulars before I commit to that.
So what do I do once Action Figures ends?
Well, there are plenty of other indie authors out there to discover. You could always give them the same chance you gave me and maybe find a new series to love.
More selfishly, you could give The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot a try if you want more lighthearted action from me. And then there’s Well-Behaved Women for something more mature.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
April 5, 2022
Weekly Update – April 5, 2022
Yep, you guessed it, another slow week for me, so I’m going to fill some space productively with another book recommendation.
This week I started — and finished — The Cool Side of My Pillow – A Book of Essays by Bruce Campbell. Yes, THAT Bruce Campbell. It’s a quick, light read filled with thoughts and musings by the man himself, and made for a great palate cleanser in-between longer books. It now sits in my little Bruce Campbell shrine down in The Writer’s Block along with If Chins Could Kill – Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, and Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B-Movie Actor — all of which are a lot of fun.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
March 29, 2022
Weekly Update – March 29, 2022
It’s another slow week for me, but rather than waste space telling you that, I’m going to recommend a book I recently finished and absolutely loved.
The book is All for One by Lillie Lainoff, which is a gender-swapped reimagining of The Three Musketeers, but that summary is too simplistic. This is neither a riff on nor a pastiche of the Dumas novel, but its own entity with its own vibe.
It checks a lot of boxes — feminist fiction, queer and disabled representation, women helping and supporting women, all wrapped in a young-reader-friendly swashbuckling adventure — and lived up to my hopes and expectations, which doesn’t happen often. Highly recommended.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
March 24, 2022
Well-Behaved Women – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
Rose Booker remembers how she died. Both times.
Rose’s pursuit of the truth behind those memories leads her to discover that she was in a past life the legendary pirate queen Mary Read — and that she’s not the only infamous historical figure who has returned from the dead.
Who is this Series For?
Well-Behaved Women is an urban fantasy trilogy featuring a predominantly female cast. I wrote it for everyone looking for an action-packed adventure tale driven by complex heroic (and villainous, and somewhere in-between) LGBTQ women.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
No. The series contains violence, language, and sexual content that make it inappropriate for younger readers.
What are the Books in the Series?
Awakening: Nearly a year after being shot and left for dead, Sergeant Rose Booker returns to active duty with the Worcester Police Department, hoping to put the past behind her — except she’s not sure it’s her past that’s haunting her.
When hard-drinking hellraiser Julie d’Aubigny enters Rose’s life, she promises to reveal the truth behind Rose’s nightmares — or are they memories? — of her death at the end of a hangman’s noose.
But first Rose must stop the mysterious madman waging a bloody campaign of vengeance that threatens to turn the city’s streets red. All she has to do is uncover his identity — and his own dark secret.
Transition: The adventure continues as Rose and her friends deal with the aftermath of the events in Awakening and face off against a new, deadlier enemy hellbent on revenge.
Endtimes: Rose, Anna, and Julie face the fight of their lives in the conclusion of the Well-Behaved Women trilogy.
All three titles are available as audiobooks on Audible, narrated by Darci Cole and Heather Auden.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Awakening, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
March 22, 2022
Weekly Update – March 22, 2022
Once again, this is a slow news week. I continue to chip away at the first draft of the final Action Figures novel, which passed 90,000 words last week, making it the fattest book I’ve ever written — and I’m not done yet!
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator. Yay!
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
March 17, 2022
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
Derek Strongarm and Felix Lightfoot are a pair of hard-luck adventurers for hire with an unfortunate knack for landing jobs that pay too little and threaten their lives too much. Erika Racewind is a hardened elven warrior who doesn’t like people, except maybe when she’s killing them. Winifred Graceword is a kindhearted elven priestess skilled in the healing arts. David is a young sorcerer on a path to discover who he really is — and whether that person has a last name, because going by just David is getting old fast.
Together these companions travel across the land of Asaches looking for adventure and the glory and riches that come with it. Mostly the riches, though, because you can’t buy food and beer with glory.
Who is this Series For?
Sword-and-sorcery fantasy fans looking for something a little lighter than most of the fare currently on the shelves. If you want heavy, dark, serious stories with lots of death, destruction, torture, rape, and political intrigue, go read something else because you won’t find it here.
What you will find is a fast-paced adventure filled with colorful characters, rip-roaring action, humor, and gentle jabs at the classic elements of fantasy fiction.
Which is not to say this series is a comedy or parody. There is still drama aplenty, but as a rule I don’t take things too seriously. You can read these books and not feel like you need a hug and a room full of puppies afterward.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
Not really. The series is a hard PG-13/light R for violence, language, and sexual content. It is suitable for older teens, but not for the YA crowd.
What are the Books in the Series?
Scratching a Lich: Derek and Felix find themselves entangled in an urgent quest to slay a legendary lich before he can trigger a world-ending apocalypse – as insane undead sorcerers are wont to do. Together with Erika Racewind, bodyguard for a mysterious young wizard named David, and Winifred Graceword, they head out to discover lost cities, recover long lost magical artifacts, and slay great evils in order to fulfill curiously specific prophecies – as mismatched, ragtag groups of adventurers are wont to do.
Assassins Brawl: The companions are hired to safeguard a spoiled brat of a princess targeted for death by the assassin Ruined Isys, but as is often the case, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Now all they have to do is determine who is behind the plot before they get caught in the crossfire.
Blades of Glory: Derek, Felix, and company are up for a job that seems a little too simple for a payday that seems a little too generous – but unfortunately, so are the famed adventurers of fortune known as the Noble Blades. Which of them will be the first to find a stolen ceremonial mask that is absolutely positively completely normal and not at all some lost artifact possessed of dark power?
Sworded Affairs: The company takes a job to dispose of a potentially dangerous magical artifact only to become snowbound in an isolated city besieged by flesh-hungry beasts — and under assault from within by a dark conspiracy.
Elfish Motives: Winifred Graceword is called home under mysterious circumstances, which lead to the company revisiting the lost even city of Wihend. But what do the four clans want with their long-abandoned ancestral home?
Twins and Losses: The company finally returns home to Ambride, only to become immediately embroiled in a scandal threatening to consume the Ambride Academy of Magic.
Cover WIPThe Final Summons – An Anthology of the New England Speculative Writers: Featuring The Going Rate For Penance, a short story set in the Strongarm & Lightfoot world. Mercenaries Jessica and Samantha Summerland receive an assignment from their least favorite client, and one way or another, this will be their last job.
How Long Will the Series Run?
Unknown, but tentatively ten books.
Are They Available As Audiobooks?
The first four books, narrated by Heather S. Auden, are currently available on Audible.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Scratching a Lich, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
March 15, 2022
Weekly Update – March 15, 2022
I regret to inform everyone that this is another snoozer of a week in terms of eventful news. I’ve been hard at work on the next and last Action Figures novel, but that’s about it.
And yes, at this point in the project it’s safe to say this will in fact be the final book in the core Action Figures series. Not everything is going to fully wrap up in that book, but that’s okay. That just means I have a springboard for the first spinoff novel! Whether that lends itself to another series or a shorter format (trilogy or freestanding book) has yet to be seen, but expect to hear more about that once book eleven is in the can.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator. Yay!
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
March 11, 2022
Action Figures – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
The series focuses on Carrie Hauser, a 15-year-old girl who one summer experiences two life-changing events: her parents announce they’re getting divorced, and she gains superhuman abilities after encountering a dying extraterrestrial after he falls to Earth.
Her adventure begins after Carrie and her mother Christina move back to Christina’s childhood home town of Kingsport, Massachusetts, and Carrie meets four teens with powers of their own: superhero fanboy Matt Steiger, who owns a pair of magic gloves that can produce any object he can envision out of thin air, like a living cartoon character; Sara Danvers, a telepath and telekinetic who is afraid of her own abilities; the easygoing Stuart Lumley, who possesses superhuman strength; and Missy Hamill, an adorable motormouth with enhanced strength and reflexes.
The teens form a superhero team almost on a whim, but soon find themselves fighting for their lives against very real super-villains – much to the dismay of Kingsport’s hometown hero Concorde, leader of the super-team The Protectorate.
Who is this Series For?
Fans of superhero comics, TV shows, and movies in general, but particularly of titles featuring teen heroes such as Young Justice, Teen Titans, Young Avengers, and Champions.
The tone is generally lighter than a lot of YA books out there now. While there is drama and conflict, and some later stories deal with darker issues, I try to keep the series fun, upbeat, and optimistic.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
Action Figures is a PG-13 series that contains mild to moderate profanity, non-graphic violence, some mature themes, and later on in the series mild sexual content.
An added word about the violent content: while the violence is not graphic, the consequences are not downplayed. This isn’t sanitized Hollywood violence. People get hurt just as they would in real life and do not easily shrug off injuries, and in some cases the characters have to deal with the emotional trauma of their experiences.
What are the Books in the Series?
Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins – Carrie and her new friends in the Hero Squad (yes, they know their team name is awful) find themselves caught in the crossfire as the deadly mercenary Manticore comes to Kingsport, on the hunt for the rogue artificial intelligence known as Archimedes. Soon to be available through Audible!
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women – The sorceress Black Betty threatens to raise hell – maybe literally – as she pursues her vendetta against the Protectorate’s resident paranormal expert Dr. Enigma.
Action Figures – Issue Three: Pasts Imperfect – Missy’s life is turned upside-down when she learns the truth about the source of her powers, and her connection to the bloodthirsty killer Buzzkill Joy.
Action Figures – Issue Four: Cruel Summer – Sara finds herself in the crosshairs of the mysterious hero killer the King of Pain, but to save herself, she might have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.
Action Figures – Issue Five: Team-Ups – The Hero Squad, still reeling from their devastating encounter with the King of Pain, get a little help picking up the pieces from their friends in the Protectorate and the Quantum Quintet.
Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play – The Squad finds itself outnumbered and under-powered after one of their members goes missing – and at the worst possible time as foes from their past reappear, more dangerous than ever and ready to exact revenge.
Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War – On Earth, Carrie Hauser is a hero, but on the far side of the galaxy, she’s just another soldier on the front lines of an interplanetary war against the terrorists in the Black End.
Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage – Carrie returns to Earth to reclaim her life, but life has moved on without her. Does she have a place with her team, her friends, or her family anymore?
Action Figures – Issue Nine: Hell Hath No Fury – Black Betty is back, and ready to unleash Hell — literally, but can the Hero Squad trust Dr. Enigma to have their backs? Or does she have her own dark agenda?
Action Figures – Issue Ten: Unintended Consequences – The Hero Squad learns that hard way that no good deed goes unpunished and the sins of their past have not been forgotten.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven – The final book in the series? Maybe? Tentatively scheduled for early/mid-2022 release.
The Action Figures Omnibus – Volume One: Stepping Up – Collects the first three books in the series (Secret Origins, Black Magic Women, Pasts Imperfect) and features a new foreward by Patrick Hodges and a new introduction by the author.
How Long Will the Series Run?
The series is plotted out to eleven, possibly twelve books in the main series. There are potential spinoffs in the works, but the core Action Figures series will come to an end by 2023.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Secret Origins, short stories set in the Action Figures world, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
March 8, 2022
Weekly Update – March 8, 2022
Another slow week, of sorts. I got quite a bit of work done on the last Action Figures novel and work is proceeding nicely on the audiobook edition of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives, but there’s no real “big event” news to report.
I will, however, share news that may only be of interest to me: renovations on my office, a.k.a. The Writer’s Block, are finished! Mostly! I have detail work to do and some bells and whistles to add like a new turntable and a couple of video game arcade cabinets for funsies, but all the major pieces are in place — furniture, built-in shelving, the ceiling and floors, and of course, a perch behind the couch for my cats when they come to visit.
You can probably guess by looking at the photos which is the before pic and which is the after. Amazing what the right paint job alone does for making a space feel brighter, but new floors and a better central light certainly help.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator. Yay!
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
March 1, 2022
Weekly Update – March 1, 2022
Once again, it’s a slow week in terms of interesting things to report (unless you count me getting a refund on my taxes this year). I’ve been working steadily on the next Action Figures book, which continues to shape up to be the last in the core series. It’s going to be a chonky boi — 80K words and counting and I’m maybe two-thirds of the way through the first draft — and I’m already planning a special cover for it.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women: Work on the audiobook edition has begun, with Bethany Boles returning as narrator. Yay!
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Draft one underway. Scheduled for a winter/spring 2022 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Elfish Motives: Work has begun on the audiobook edition. Tentatively set for a 2022 release.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
None scheduled.
MISC.
The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
